Can Girls... Also Do That?

That night, Su Yan tossed and turned in bed and, unable to make sense of it, finally pressed her for an answer. Qin Qingyan patiently explained her concerns, knowing Su Yan was only worried about her.

After hearing her out, Su Yan finally understood. She had to admit Qin Qingyan was cautious; at the same time, she felt an ache she couldn’t quite put into words.

She had left home and drifted to Nanjing City, where she had tasted every kind of hardship. After entering the entertainment industry, she had also seen all kinds of monsters and demons. Compared with others her age, she had already become much steadier because of it.

Yet Qin Qingyan was only a year older than her, and she could already think so thoroughly. Su Yan admired her, but she also couldn’t help feeling sad for her.

She had endured so many miserable days; at last, she had seen a glimmer of hope, only to remain obscure to this day because of those shady backdoor dealings. It was truly unfair.

The two of them lay in bed, each wrapped in her own thoughts, and gradually fell asleep.

The next morning, Yan Yue had prepared breakfast for them. While they were eating together, she said, “Qin Qingyan, do you still remember Director Liu from Qingyi Village?”

Director Liu?

“I do. What about him?” she asked.

“He has a film. I recommended you for it, and I’ve also explained your situation to him, so you can rest assured and take the role. He’d be very happy to have you in it. I wanted to ask for your opinion first.” Yan Yue smiled.

Was a huge windfall really about to drop from the sky?! Su Yan excitedly pressed on Qin Qingyan’s arm, signaling wildly.

With a recommendation from the boss, surely nobody like Mr. Wang, Mr. Wu, or Mr. Zheng would dare cut in line and snatch it away, right?

Qin Qingyan thought for a moment, then said, “Can I take a look at the script first?”

“Of course. I’ll add you now.”

After they exchanged contact information, a document was sent straight to Qin Qingyan’s phone.

“Your role is the second female lead. I’ve looked at it; the story is very good, and it really tests your acting. If you can play her well, you probably won’t lack for offers in the future.” Yan Yue said.

Although she had only skimmed it, Qin Qingyan already had her answer in her heart. It really was a good script.

She didn’t reply right away, only said she’d decide after she got back.

Looking gratefully at Yan Yue, she was still bare-faced that early in the morning; her skin was fair and lovely, and she seemed hardly different from when she wore makeup. If anything stood out, it was only the absence of that faint sense of distance makeup gave her.

Yan Yue actually wasn’t the least bit inferior to the female celebrities in the entertainment industry in terms of looks; if anything, she also had a uniquely cool and detached temperament of her own.

Good-looking, rich, and powerful; someone like that could almost be called perfect. She should want for nothing, right? So why would someone like her be willing to help her?

Qin Qingyan had been curious about this for a long time. She had already sensed it back in Qingyi Village, so she asked.

“Why do you help me?” Qin Qingyan asked.

“Why?” Yan Yue paused. “Maybe because...”

Qin Qingyan had something of herself in her. Especially the first time she saw her in Qingyi Village, that stubborn expression reminded Yan Yue of the rainy night years ago when she had walked home alone.

Or maybe because no elder in the family had ever been close to her, and her younger siblings always treated her with a mixture of respect and distance, which made her feel like an outsider in her own home.

With Qin Qingyan, she could relax much more. Without meaning to, she would set down some of her masks and feel more like herself.

Besides, her thinking was different from Nie Cong’s. Maybe it was stubborn of her, but she preferred to believe that once an adult had gone astray in a place of fame and fortune, then even as an ordinary person, given the chance, they could still take the wrong road again.

Using the environment to whitewash one’s mistakes was nothing more than an excuse.

And those who wouldn’t do such things would remain the same even if they were surrounded by wine, women, and song.

She also wanted to see whether she had judged someone wrongly.

How far could a girl like Qin Qingyan go in a place like the entertainment industry, where right and wrong were so easily twisted? Would she end up becoming a selfish person whose eyes were filled only with money and power?

In short, there were many reasons.

“Because I like you, and I think highly of you. Is that reason enough?” Yan Yue said with a smile.

Her answer made Qin Qingyan stiffen all over. The tips of her ears slowly turned hot, and she lowered her head, eating her fried egg somewhat awkwardly.

From childhood to now, many people had told her they liked her, but she had always felt repelled and disgusted by it. Yet today, hearing Yan Yue say that, she didn’t feel repulsed at all; instead, she felt a timid little thrill, as if she’d unexpectedly received a delight she hadn’t dared hope for.

Her heart was pounding uncontrollably; she had never experienced anything like this before.

Yan Yue, on the other hand, found it surprising. She had thought Qin Qingyan was mature beyond her years, the type who wouldn’t even change expression if Mount Tai collapsed in front of her. After entering Jingsheng, compared with Su Yan, who sighed every five steps and marveled every ten, Qin Qingyan couldn’t have been calmer.

She rarely saw extra emotion from her, and today she seemed to have suddenly found a key.

Yan Yue let out a soft laugh and continued eating breakfast.

At the Huanfeng Century conference room, several managers sat together with three or four male and female celebrities who had recently become popular.

One of the female celebrities listened to their variety show proposal with a blank look, repeatedly rubbing her fingernails; her mind had long since drifted somewhere else.

Mr. Qian, the department head, noticed her, so he stopped talking. Following his gaze, everyone glanced toward the actress together. The excessive silence snapped her back to attention. Finding everyone looking at her, she uncomfortably put her hands down and tightened the green shawl around herself.

With a cold snort, Qian Wei continued presenting his proposal. If not for the fact that this woman had been pushed into position by Zheng Chong, with so many excellent actresses in Huanfeng, how could it have been her turn to sit here?

The moment Yan Yue entered the Huanfeng lobby, she spotted a strangely out-of-place mother and daughter on the sofa. Their clothes were worn but neat and clean. The mother sat stiffly, glancing around from time to time.

The little girl was very well-behaved, not crying or making a fuss.

Yan Yue looked at the scene with interest. Before long, Zheng Chong entered with a young man. The mother’s face suddenly lit up, and she hurried forward with a broad smile.

“Mr. Zheng, you, you still remember me?” the woman asked hopefully.

Zheng Chong’s expression didn’t change. His gaze moved to the little girl in her arms, and he suddenly smiled. “Of course I remember. What brought you here?”

The woman said embarrassedly, “I only found out after asking around everywhere that you’re such an important person. I, I came to thank you for helping us that day. I’m going back to my hometown this afternoon, so I came specially to thank you.”

She held up a large bag of things. It bulged full, and the part that showed looked like meat, but it was pitch-black.

Zheng Chong exchanged a look with the young man beside him; no words were needed.

“These are cured meats my family sent me before. I couldn’t bear to eat them. Since I’m leaving now, it would be such a waste to leave so much behind, so I thought I’d give them all to you,” the woman said with a kind smile.

“So you’re leaving so soon?” Zheng Chong said, reaching out to tease the little girl in her arms.

“There are matters at home; I can’t not go back,” the woman said.

The young man glanced at the little girl, then at Zheng Chong; a faint smile curved his lips.

“In that case, since the cured meats were made with so much hard work, I won’t take them. Leave me your number; if you ever run into trouble in the future, just come to me.” Zheng Chong said.

The woman nodded repeatedly in gratitude. Zheng Chong was just about to take out his phone when a gentle, pleasant female voice came from behind him, interrupting him.

“Mr. Zheng.” Yan Yue stepped forward with a smile.

The young man also turned back to look, and froze at once. The newcomer was wearing a gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her forearms; the top button was undone, revealing distinct collarbones and a pale, slender neck.

The hem of her shirt was loosely tucked into a black suit skirt, and there was a slight slit at the side of the skirt.

Zheng Jingteng recovered and was just about to ask Zheng Chong who she was when he saw Zheng Chong step forward respectfully to greet her. In surprise, he quickly tried to recall the senior executives of Huanfeng. Anyone above Zheng Chong in rank, he knew about. But this woman, he was sure he had never seen before.

Only after hearing how Zheng Chong addressed her did he gradually guess her identity.

“Yan Dong,” Zheng Chong said with a smile, “I didn’t expect to run into you here. This was my oversight; I should have arranged for someone to receive you ahead of time.”

“It’s fine. I was just passing by and came to take a look,” Yan Yue said. “And this is?”

“Oh, my nephew. I brought him along to see the world,” Zheng Chong said.

The man immediately withdrew his improper gaze and bowed politely and respectfully.

Yan Yue smiled in understanding and shifted her gaze to the mother and daughter. Only then did Zheng Chong seem to remember them, and he hastily said, “Last time I helped the two of them with something and chased off a rotten young punk. This afternoon she’s leaving, so now she’s here to express her thanks.”

“Cured meat?” Yan Yue recognized it at once. “Looks like Mr. Zheng really did them a big favor.”

“That’s right, that’s right. Our little business doesn’t make much money to begin with, and we’re strangers in a strange place; when something happens, no one helps, so we just grit our teeth and get through it. Mr. Zheng is really a good man. Not only did he help me get my money back, he even bought all my candied hawthorns. And this cured meat, Mr. Zheng won’t accept it either. I don’t even know how to thank him properly,” the woman said.

“Since it’s their heartfelt gift, it wouldn’t be convenient to take it all the way back. Mr. Zheng, why not just accept it?” Yan Yue said with a smile.

Seeing this, Zheng Chong knew it was no longer appropriate to refuse, so he motioned for Zheng Jingteng to take it. Afterward, the woman said a few more grateful words with a smile, then hurried off.

Zheng Chong seized the opportunity to offer, “Yan Dong, there’s so much of this cured meat. Why don’t you take a few pieces to try? With this body of mine, if I eat any more, it’ll be disastrous.”

“Is that so? Mr. Zheng, you’re really willing to part with it?” Yan Yue said.

She had only learned about cured meat in Qingyi Village, where quite a few households had it, but unfortunately she had never gotten to try it. She really was a little curious about the taste.

“Of course. Take as much as you like,” Zheng Chong said, then gave an embarrassed smile. “But leave me at least one piece. After all, it was their kindness.”

Yan Yue smiled lightly. “No, I was only teasing you. Let’s go; show me around Huanfeng.”

Zheng Jingteng trailed at the back, his gaze constantly flicking toward Yan Yue without meaning to. After learning her identity and understanding the gap between them, he first felt disappointed; afterward, he still couldn’t help harboring thoughts he shouldn’t have. After all, he was handsome and still young. He had already been approached by several rich women before, but not one of them was either too old and faded or had a debauched private life.

Though he was promiscuous and had been with plenty of women, he at least still had the “Zheng family” name; he wasn’t so cheap that he would completely debase himself.

But the instant he saw Yan Yue, at that moment, he regretted his past indulgence for the first time in his life.

After Qin Qingyan confirmed she would take the role, she stayed in her room all day, constantly working through the character’s inner world. Her printed script was covered with all kinds of marks, and in just one day, the crisp new paper had already taken on a worn look.

Most of it she already understood, and she believed she could perform it well. There was only one point she could not quite make sense of: she was able to portray the character’s emotions at the time very well, but she didn’t understand why those emotions existed in the first place.

The second female lead she was playing was the leader of a criminal gang, while her younger sister was a police officer, and the male lead was the sister’s lover. She had thought the character targeted the male lead because she wanted to protect her sister, but what she didn’t understand was why, after clearly learning that the male lead would even risk his life for her sister, she still had to kill him no matter what.

Qin Qingyan sighed, truly unable to understand it. She even suspected the screenwriter was just making things up. But... apart from that, the entire story was tightly woven, and could be called brilliant.

After finishing the whole script, she finally understood why Yan Yue had said that if she could play this film well, she would be inundated with offers in the future.

She lay on the bed, staring straight at the ceiling. Then, suddenly, she sat up. Since that was the case, Yan Yue should also have read the script; otherwise she wouldn’t have known whether the project was good or not.

Maybe she could help answer this question.

So she immediately opened the door, left behind a single sentence of explanation for Su Yan, who was still sitting on the sofa watching television and hadn’t yet reacted, and hurried out of sight.

On the subway, Qin Qingyan’s excited, fervent heart gradually calmed down. Then, certain emotions that had been hidden deep inside and were difficult to notice slowly began to show their edges.

Besides her curiosity about the answer, she was also looking forward to seeing Yan Yue.

Was it because Yan Yue was one of the few people she could count as knowing? But Su Yan was too, wasn’t she?

She closed her eyes and imagined it: if this subway were heading home, and the person she was about to see was Su Yan... she would feel reassured, feel at ease. But if it was Yan Yue...

She opened her eyes at the same time and drew a long breath.

It was anticipation; it was an excitement she couldn’t control.

Why? Why did she feel this way?

Leaning back, she tilted her head up to look at the handrails overhead, and her mind grew even more confused.

After leaving the subway exit, she didn’t rush to look for Yan Yue, and she wasn’t even entirely sure whether she should go find her.

In a park, she found an empty bench and sat down, quietly looking up at the blue sky and white clouds.

In a daze, she seemed to hear a faint rustling sound, so she followed it. After looking for a long while, she finally caught a vague glimpse of two people through the gaps in a low thicket. Once she saw what they were doing, Qin Qingyan immediately turned her head back, her face burning red at once.

In broad daylight, in a park, they were kissing openly.

She then looked around; there weren’t many people here, and with the bushes blocking the view, it really wouldn’t be easy to notice them.

Qin Qingyan’s body stiffened; she didn’t dare move. She seemed even more afraid of being discovered than they were.

After a while, the sounds of breathing steadied, and then came the sound of receding footsteps.

Only then did Qin Qingyan finally breathe out in relief.

Once her nerves relaxed, she only belatedly realized that the people kissing just now... seemed to be two girls.

Girls... can also do that?